501st Combat Support Group
|allegiance= |branch= |type= |role=Base Support |size= |command_structure=Air Defense Command |garrison= |equipment=F-86 Sabre 1953-1955 |battles= |decorations=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_label=501st Combat Support Wing EmblemUsed by the 501st Combat Support Group when assigned to the wing }} The 501st Combat Support Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was last active as part of the 501st Tactical Missile Wing at RAF Greenham Common, England, where it provided support for the wing and tenant organizations as the host organization for Greenham Common. The group was originally activated as the 501st Air Service Group, a support group at the end of World War II and continued this mission with the American occupation forces in Germany through the beginning of the Berlin Airlift, when it was inactivated as United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) implemented the wing base organization system. In 1982 the group was consolidated with the 501st Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron, a Second Air Force unit that provided base support at Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas from 1943 to 1944. The group was activated once again in 1953 as the 501st Air Defense Group, when ADC established it as the headquarters for a dispersed fighter-interceptor squadron and the medical, aircraft maintenance, and administrative squadrons supporting it. It was replaced in 1955 when ADC transferred its mission, equipment, and personnel to the 56th Fighter Group in a project that replaced air defense groups commanding fighter squadrons with fighter groups with distinguished records during World War II. History World War II and Occupation of Germany The earliest predecessor of the 501st Combat Support Group was the 501st Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron, which was organized in 1943 as the base headquarters for Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, a World War II very heavy bombardment training base. Great Bend was one of the original bases where Boeing B-29 Superfortress units received their trainingAbstract, History Army Air Base Great Bend Kansas Sep 1942-Jan 1944 (retrieved September 20, 2013) before deploying to the China Burma India Theater. However, the Army Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving themselves less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. This resulted in the 501st, along with other units at Great Bend, being disbanded and its personnel, equipment and functions transferred to the 243d AAF Base Unit (Operational Training Unit, Very Heavy).Abstract, Base History of Army Air Base Great Bend, KS Mar 1944 (retrieved September 20, 2013) The 501st Air Service Group was established toward the end of World War II to provide support for flying units in Germany and Austria from 1945 to 1948 as part of a reorganization of Army Air Forces (AAF) support groups in which the AAF replaced Service Groups that included personnel from other branches of the Army and supported two combat groups with Air Service Groups including only Air Corps units. It was designed to support a single combat group. Its 919th Air Engineering Squadron provided maintenance that was beyond the capability of the combat group, its 743rd Air Materiel Squadron handled all supply matters, and its Headquarters & Base Services Squadron provided other support. The group moved to Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany, where it replaced the 97th Airdrome Squadron as the primary support unit for the airfield.Abstract, History of 501st Air Service Group, Jan 1947 (retrieved Jan 2, 2012) It briefly supported the Berlin Airlift before inactivation in 1948.Abstract, History of 501st Air Service Group, Jun 1948 (retrieved Jan 2, 2012) It was replaced by elements of the 7150th AF Composite Wing in the Air Force Wing/Base reorganization in 1948.Abstract, History of 7150th Composite Wing, Jul 1948 (retrieved Jan 2, 2012) which was adopted to unify control at air basesGoss, William A. in Craven & Cate, Vol. VI, Chapter 2, The AAF It was disbanded later in 1948.Department of the Air Force Letter, 322 (AFOOR 887e), 8 October 1948, Subject: Disbandment of Certain Inactive Air Force Units Air Defense of the United States During the Cold War, the group was reconstituted, redesignated as the 501st Air Defense Group, and activated by ADC at O'Hare International Airport on 16 February 1953 with responsibility for air defense in the Great Lakes area. It was assigned the 62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS), which was already stationed at O'Hare, flying North American F-86 SabresCornett & Johnson, p.117 as its operational component. The 62d FIS had been assigned directly to the 4706th Defense Wing. The group replaced the 83rd Air Base Squadron as USAF active duty host organization at O'Hare IAP. It was assigned three squadrons to perform its support responsibilities.Cornett & Johnson, p. 146 The group added a second operational unit, the 42d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was activated at O'Hare eight days later,Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p.195 and also Flew F-86s.Cornett & Johnson, p.115 In March 1953, the 62d FIS converted to newer radar equipped and HVAR rocket armed F-86Ds. The group was inactivated and replaced by the 56th Fighter Group in 1955 Robertson, Patsy AFHRA Fact Sheet, 56th Operations Group 5/18/2009 (retrieved March 3, 2012) as part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1956, p.6 Ground Launched Cruise Missile Support In the early 1980s USAF began deploying Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) in the European theater. The 501st Tactical Missile Wing was organized at RAF Greenham Common as the first USAF wing equipped with the BGM-109 Tomahawk missile.Haulman, Daniel L. AFHRA Factsheet, 501st Combat Support Wing 12/28/2007 (retrieved May 17, 2013) The 501st group was redesignated the 501st Combat Support Group and activated as the headquarters for organizations supporting the wing and hosted all USAF organizations at Greenham Common. As the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was implemented, the USAF withdrew its missiles from Europe and the wing and group were inactivated. Lineage 501st Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron * Constituted as the 501st Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron : Activated on 26 January 1943 : Disbanded on 1 April 1944 * Reconstituted on 11 January 1982 and consolidated with the 501st Air Defense Group as the 501st Combat Support Group 501st Combat Support Group * Constituted as 501st Air Service Group on 16 December 1944 : Activated on 1 June 1945 : Inactivated on 1 July 1948 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948 * Reconstituted and redesignated 501st Air Defense Group on 21 January 1953 : Activated on 16 February 1953 : Inactivated on 18 August 1955 * Redesignated 501st Combat Support Group on 11 January 1982 and consolidated with the 501st Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron : Activated on 1 October 1982 : Inactivated on 31 May 1991 Assignments * Second Air Force, 26 January 1943 - 1 April 1944 * Unknown (probably European Air Transport Service) 1 June 1945 - ca. June 1946 * Headquarters Command, United States Air Forces Europe ca. June 1946 - 1 July 1948 * 4706th Defense Wing (later 4706th Air Defense Wing), 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955 * 501st Tactical Missile Wing, 1 October 1982 - 31 May 1991 Stations * Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, 26 January 1943 - 1 April 1944 * Bensheim, Germany, ca. 1 June 1945 * Tulln Air Base, Austria 25 Aug 1945History of Tulln Air Base (retrieved May 18, 2012) * Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany 1 June 1946 - 1 July 1948Abstract, History of 501st Air Service Group, June 1946 (retrieved June 18, 2012) * O'Hare International Airport, Illinois, 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955 * RAF Greenham Common, England, United Kingdom, 1 October 1982 - 31 May 1991 Components Operational Squadrons * 42d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 24 February 1953 – 18 August 1955 * 62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955Robertson, Patsy AFHRA Fact Sheet, 62nd Fighter Squadron 5/22/2009 (retrieved March 3, 2012) Support Squadrons * 501st Air Base Squadron, 16 February 1953 - 18 August 1955 * 501st Civil Engineering Squadron, 1 October 1982 - 31 May 1991 * 501st Materiel Squadron, 16 February 1953 - 18 August 1955 * 501st Medical Squadron (later 501st USAF Infirmary),See Abstract, History of 501st USAF Infirmary Jan-Jun 1955 (retrieved June 18, 2012) 16 February 1953 - 18 August 1955 * 501st Missile Support Squadron, ca. 1987 - 31 May 1991 * 501st Security Police Squadron, 1 October 1982 - ca. 1 January 1983 * 743rd Air Materiel Squadron, 1 June 1945 - 1 July 1948 * 919th Air Engineering Squadron, 1 June 1945 - 1 July 1948 Aircraft * F-86A Sabre, 1953 * F-86D Sabre, 1953-1955 * F-86F Sabre, 1953-1955 Awards and Campaigns See also * Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons References Notes Bibliography * Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, (1956) * * * * * Further reading * Grant, C.L., (1961) The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, USAF Historical Study No. 126 * 0501 Category:Aerospace Defense Command units Category:Military units and formations in Illinois Category:Military units and formations established in 1953